Avoiding All Caps for Emphasis
Avoiding All Caps for Emphasis records the relevant Microsoft Style Guide convention while keeping it explicitly house-style scoped rather than presenting it as a universal grammar rule.
Do not use ALL CAPS merely to emphasize prose in Microsoft-style documentation; use clearer wording or an appropriate emphasis treatment instead.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
This is Microsoft house style; literal strings, acronyms, ports, or product-specific text that is genuinely uppercase should still be reproduced accurately.
Further guidance
Content
Do not use ALL CAPS merely to emphasize prose in Microsoft-style documentation; use clearer wording or an appropriate emphasis treatment instead.
Practical Application
In Microsoft-style documentation, emphasize by improving wording or using the allowed typographic treatment rather than turning ordinary prose into ALL CAPS. Preserve uppercase when it is part of a literal string, acronym, command, or protected product text.
Purpose
Maintain readable, consistent typography without turning capitalization into a generic emphasis device.
Reader Check
Is the uppercase text genuinely part of the thing being reproduced, or are you using capitalization only to make the sentence feel louder?
Worked Example
Prefer “Important: Save your work before restarting” over “SAVE YOUR WORK BEFORE RESTARTING” when the capitalization is only emphasis.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Capitalization — Microsoft Style Guide (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Microsoft technical-style guidance for sentence-style headings, acronym expansion capitalization and capitalization after colons